News and Opinions on Professional Wrestling

My Time at Revolution Pro Wrestling!

Being in the UK means access to the major wrestling shows is easier than being in the US.

I traveled just over an hour by train to Rev Pro’s spiritual home in the Portsmouth Guildhall to view their latest event, At Our Best. It was only the third time I’d been to an independent show in the United Kingdom and the first by Rev Pro, the previous two were Insane Championship Wrestling.

The venue was similar to that of a theatre, with seats surrounding 3 sides of the ring and a big staging area.

Tyler Bate is one of WWE’s top UK stars.

El Phantasmo opened the show facing one half of Moustache Mountain and one-third of British Strong Style, Tyler Bate.

Dazzling the crowd with flips and quick tempo wrestling, Phantasmo and Bate accompanied good theatrics with solid wrestling. One particularly good spot was when Bate did his signature headstand, followed by Phantasmo copying and then the two competitors joined forces to help the referee onto a turnbuckle to do the headstand, much to the crowd’s delight. Bate picked the up the win with his signature finished, the Tyler Driver 97.

Speedball Mike Bailey faced Australian Kyle Fletcher in the strongest match of the night. Some of the kicks and slaps were stiff, Bailey delivering plenty of kick variations throughout. For me, this was the best match of the evening with plenty of flips that really appealed to the crowd.

On that note, the crowd was different to what I expected and what I was used to. The age demographic ranged from really young, around 6-7 to literally women in their 70’s at the least. It was odd, but it created more of a family atmosphere, which was kind of nice.

One of Rev Pro’s own, Undisputed British Cruiserweight Champion Kurtis Chapman faced off against American David Starr who is one of the best heels on the circuit. Coming out first in a Southampton football shirt was an easy way for Starr to generate heat in a matter of seconds as the Portsmouth crowd booed instantly upon witnessing the red and white top. Going to university in Southampton, it gave me a good opportunity to be a smark and cheer the bad guy.

Fast-paced once again but with Starr using heel tactics to nicely break up the match created a really good flow but in the end, Chapman kept his belt safely by pinning Your Favourite Wrestler’s Favourite Wrestler.

After a short interval and a change from beer to cider, the second half was underway.

WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne opened the second half as he faced Mark Davis and as expected, Dunne dominated. It was quite a safe match, with Dunne not taking too much heavy offense. A Triple H-esque Pedigree wasn’t enough to see off Davis but the finisher that won him WWE’s newest belt, the Bitter End, was. It is quite fun to watch Dunne as the overwhelming babyface despite wrestling as a heel still, in the UK I’m not sure Dunne can ever be fully heel again.

What followed was a nice women’s matchup between relatively unknowns Charli Evans and Veda Scott. Evans won the match by pinfall.

Zack Sabre Jr making his way to the ring.

The main event is what we paid the money to see though, as Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr, and Undisputed British Tag Team Champion with Minoru Suzuki faced off against the older half of Moustache Mountain, Trent Seven.

One of the best matchups you can get outside of WWE and New Japan, Sabre worked his usual heel persona while Trent’s babyface theatrics were winning the crowd over.

Zack Sabre Jr really put on a tactical wrestling performance, maneuvering Seven into all sorts of angles. Eventually, after piledrivers and chops galore, Zack forced Seven to tap out meaning he retains the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship – which is basically a formality for Sabre Jr these days.

After the show, the queue to meet Seven, Dunne and Bate flowed around the arena, and we joined the back of it to chat with the guys. I’ve met Seven twice before, he holds a 100% record of being at events I have attended. I asked him if I could ask him one question for a project I’m doing at university on social media in wrestling. He said due to contracts, he wasn’t allowed to talk. He did, however, leave me with one sentence I could publish, and I think it is a good line to leave on.